The book The Plateelbakkerij ‘Zuid-Holland’, 1897-1908, Another Look, was published in February 2025 . This book is about the first 10 years of the existence of Gouda’s most prominent ceramic factory.
This book sheds new light on the early years of the Dutch pottery factory ‘Zuid-Holland’ (PZH) from Gouda. Because the factory’s archives have been lost, little is known about the early years of the PZH and the road the factory took in the end of the 19th century from start to world fame. This book is the result of years of research based on images of more than 3000 objects, handwriting analysis of monograms and research in municipal registers into the lives of pottery painters. All findings are presented in forty short stories that offer new perspectives on the development of the painters, models and decors of the PZH between 1897 and 1908.
New insights into markings and dates of Gouda pottery
This book is about different aspects of the Gouda pottery factory’s history. The typical Gouda decors are seen as the highlight of the early production of the PZH and are also a good reflection of Dutch Art Nouveau. One of the most important conclusions concerns the dating of the products from the first years of production. It has been thought for decades that PZH used an extra letter on the markings of object to indicate the year of production, between 1898 and 1905. This book attempts to demonstrate that the letter code refers to the decors with which a model was made and were only used in the first two years of production (1897-1989).
A book for the true pottery enthusiast
This book is made for lovers and collectors of Dutch antiques ceramics. It gives readers an excellent insight into how the Plateelbakkerij Zuid-Holland became world famous in just a few years and conquered the world with decorative pottery ‘Made in Zuid-Holland’. In addition, the book gives readers insight into how the production process adapted to this strong growth. The Plateelbakkerij ‘Zuid-Holland’, An other Look, is a richly illustrated book, published independently by the Ridgetop Collection (text and photography), in collaboration with Art Nouveau Plateel (editing and design).
Exhibition of the same name in the Ceramic Museum Nieuw Buinen
The book: The Plateelbakkerij ‘Zuid-Holland’, 1897-1908, Another Look is published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name in the Ceramic Museum Nieuw Buinen in 2025. The book is available in the museum or via Art Nouveau Plateel (see link below). You can order two version of the book.
The original book is in Dutch, contains 116 pages and over 60 colour images. Size 17x 24 cm, stitched with a soft cover and costs €29,50 (excluding shipping). For pottery enthusiasts outside the border, an English translation (text only) is available as an appendix to the book. (see link below) Costs of both the Dutch book and the translation is € 33,50 (excluding shipping).
🇳🇱 Dutch book only
🇬🇧 Dutch Book with English translation
Online version of the exhibition
The author of the book has published a digital version of the exhibition on the website rigdetopcollection.com, which feature many objects, depicted in the book. You can use this link to visit the exhibition. On the website you can look at all the different displays and click on them to view the objects.
Book: De Plateelbakkerij ‘Zuid-Holland’, 1897-1908, Another Look (Dutch with English translation)
The book De Plateelbakkerij ‘Zuid-Holland, 1897-1908, Another Look is the original Dutch book (116 pages) with an text only appendix with the English translation (60 pages).
